Surf With Amigas in Costa Rica in September

We are obsessed with our Costa Rican location, hidden at the end of the road, on the edge of the jungle. It’s such an awesome spot that we’ve added two bonus retreats in September 2015. Watch the video above for some tidbits of the awesomeness and then email [email protected] for more info on how to sign up.

September 12-19 and 19-26 2015!

These retreats are exclusive with just 10 spots available and they will fill up quickly! If you already know how to surf but want to step up your game on some super long lefts, this is the retreat for you!

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New Year, New Location!

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Surf With Amigas is expanding further into Central America. It started with Nicaragua, then we added El Salvador, Costa Rica, and now Panama!

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Keeping with our mission to seek out remote, uncrowded waves, with a small hotel within walking distance of a fun surf spot, we’re adding a Pacific Coast Panama location. Join us for our very first retreat in this new spot July 4-11, 2015.

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sansara 1 sansara 2sansara viewsansara roomWe met an awesome Amiga from Panama on a retreat in El Salvador last year and she clued us in on a hidden gem in Southern Panama. We’ll go visit her spot and have her show us all the best waves and activities. This retreat is for advanced beginners and Intermediate surfers only! Expect to surf multiple spots during the week including a fun beach break out front of where we’ll stay, a couple of awesome right point breaks, and other beach breaks just a few minutes down the road.screen_shot_2012-09-12_at_9.53.40_am_0playa_cambutalscreen_shot_2012-09-12_at_8.15.23_am_0We will also do yoga! The brand new yoga studio faces the Pacific Ocean and is fully stocked with mats, straps, bolsters, blankets, handcrafted wooden blocks, sound system and tropical hardwood floors.

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Beyond surfing world-class waves, practicing yoga over the ocean, we will have other exciting activities!

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Where we’ll stay and what’s included:

• Accommodations in an inviting beachfront Cabana at the brand new Sansara Resort

• Daily surf guidance, in water coaching, and post-session video analysis by Jackie, Michelle, and Amira.

• Daily yoga classes to relax and inspire you in the gorgeous ocean view studio with Carly

• Surfboard rental

• Wi-Fi internet access

• All delicious meals

• 2 way transfer from Panama City to the resort

• All the awesome adventures that you’ve come to expect from Surf With Amigas

Travel Info coming soon…

Email [email protected] for booking info and whatever questions you have!

swa el sal staff

all photos: Sansara Resort- Michael Phillips

Waterfalls and Surfing in El Salvador

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This morning we start day 1 of our season of retreats in Nicaragua, but here’s another look at last month’s trip to El Salvador. We’ll be heading back to El Sal again next year, so if you aren’t already, email me ([email protected]) to be added to our mailing list if you want to join in!

This is what a Surf With Amigas women’s surf and yoga retreat looks like in El Salvador. We surf, hang out, and play in gorgeous waterfalls. So fun!

Amigas in El Salvador Part 2

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A few days into their retreat, the Amigas started really getting comfortable with the waves and were totally charging. They’d look at the footage and couldn’t believe the size of the waves they were able to ride. Trust Ako when she tells you, you could do it too!

Kassia Meador – The Heart and The Sea

[http://vimeo.com/74271626]

This is an excerpt from The Heart & The Sea, an award winning left of center surf film by independent Australian filmmaker Nathan Oldfield. This section of the film features the elegant gliding of the ever graceful Kassia Meador.

Over three years in the making, The Heart & The Sea explores the joy that lies at the very centre of a surfing life: family, friends & a shared intimacy with the sea. Filmed in Australia, New Zealand, France & Spain, this is a gently refreshing & quietly enchanting contribution to the surf film genre.

If you like it, you can buy the film on iTunes.

By The Way – Girl’s Surf Short

http://vimeo.com/37014495

If you were lucky enough to grow up surfing, this should feel familiar. If you didn’t start surfing until you were 20, 30, 40, this is a reminder to get a bunch of girlfriends together and surf, skate, and do silly stuff!

By The Way is a fifteen minute short surf film by Hayley Gordon featuring Sara Taylor, Ornella Pellizzari, Silvana Lima, Margaux Arramon-Tucoo, Jenna Balester, Kim Kirch, Jen Smith, Courtney Conlogue, Danica Elbertse, Kaleigh Gilchrist, Rebecca Woods, Sofia Mulanovich, Malia Manuel, Leila Hurst.

Instructor Profile – Nadia

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One day Nadia was minding her own business out surfing the Boom (gnarly tubular wave rarely surfed by girls) when Holly paddled over and started in with 20 questions. “what’s your name? where are you from? where are you staying? how long are you here? have you ever taught surf lessons? want to come work for me?” It’s rare to see smiling girls out shredding with the boys and Nadia was out there with a big smile, paddling around and dropping into bombs. She spent a few weeks in November with Surf with Amigas and came back for two months this summer. We hope she’ll be back again! This is why….

Pre-Surf Booty Dance by Anastasia Ashley – Hot or Trashy?

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I’ve known ‘Stasia since she was a tiny shy 11 year old living in Hawaii flying over to California to compete. At the time she was touted as the “next big thing”. When she was 15 and I was 21, we had some serious battles in the amateur leagues. She’d win when the waves were small, I’d win if there was swell. We had a fierce rivalry exacerbated by her overly-involved and overly-competitive mom who would come and rub it in my face if her 15 year old daughter beat me.

In high school, Stasia separated from her mom and took a break from serious surfing. The “next big thing” claims faded away. I wondered what happened to her. A few years later we ran into each other at a casting call for a Microsoft commercial and reconnected briefly. Fast forward another few years and we were both working as stunt doubles for 90210 and spent the whole day in “hurry up and wait mode” in the trailer, which gave us plenty of time to talk of the past and our silly rivalry.

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Anastasia is now focused on traveling, surfing and modeling. It seems to be working well for her. She’s been called the “World’s Sexiest Athlete” and has been on the podium at the Women’s Pipeline Pro more than once. You may know her from the awesome wipeout we featured on the  How to Avoid Wipeouts post.

I was kind of surprised when I came across this video of her “warming up” for her heat at the SuperGirl Pro in Oceanside this summer, although considering the combo of modeling and shredding, maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised. The video caused a stir and got a ton of hits. It was clearly great PR.

I’m wondering what you think? Does she look hot? Or does she look trashy? Please comment and let’s get a conversation going!

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Surf With Amigas in Cooler Magazine

Cooler Magazine is a high quality, glossy paged print and online magazine published in the UK. One of their contributors recently joined us for a retreat in Nicaragua and wrote the story of her experience. Click the link here for the full story and see below for an excerpt.

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So many of us seem to be in search of that timeless travel fantasy. That of the intrepid explorer on the existential, perennial hunt for a pristine slice of paradise. Or that of perfectly crested, empty waves, tucked into a soft sand haven of coconuts and endless summer shred.

The Balis, Byron Bays and Biarritz’s of the world, with their populous swells and all too often intimidating line-ups of jocking bros and bras can all too often intimidate the tentative and budding surfer. Especially the XY chromosomed surfer. But for those with an adventurous soul, those who seek the unknown and the exhilaration of the journey in search of untouched breaks and exploration, taking that unknown, mysterious path, slightly off the beaten track, often leads to the most fulfilling and rewarding of shred odysseys. As Jack Kerouac, the beatnik king of travel prose so poetically penned, “Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don’t be sorry.”

Central America has been well chronicled in surfer’s travel guidebooks. Handfuls of Americans gradually began trickling down into Costa Rica and Mexico during the 1960s, hungry for empty breaks after hearing whispered tales of nature’s barreling promises. Fast forward a few decades, and the once elusive breaks that entranced the first intrepid voyagers are now happily packed out and a staple destination for any global surfer. Nicaragua, however, the largest of the Central American territories, was characterised by periods of political unrest and revolution, stability only coming to the equatorial tropic in recent years. Pockets of plucky surfers have slowly been exploring the verdant and diverse haven, and the mounting murmurs of balmy plentiful surf, welcoming and warm locals and unblemished pockets of paradise has been creeping into the adventurous surfers conscious. Thirsty for those promises of warm shred and discovery, it didn’t take much more than a couple of conversations with former ASP tour surfer Holly Beck, who is now based in Nicaragua and runs the Surf With Amigas surf camps throughout the year for those with a more gutsy disposition, and I was on my way. The scent of adventure and alluring warm waves dissolving any anxiety of my transatlantic solo voyage some 6,000 miles around the globe.

To read the rest of the story: Click Here

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